The Chicago Bears are going to make history later this year when they become the first of the original franchises to appear on HBO’s Hard Knox series. Cameras will scatter around Halas Hall to cover the team during training camp. They no doubt hope to cover lots of ground, finding engaging storylines for fans to bite into. What nobody knows is their plan of attack. Thankfully, Shannon Furman, the director of NFL Films, offered some incite to that during an appearance on the Under Center podcast.
One of the first things they hope to do is embrace the Bears’ long and storied history in the NFL, something most of the other teams they’ve covered can’t flaunt. It will also be nice not to deal with ridiculous heat.
“We’re all excited to have a team that’s been around since the start of the NFL,” Furman said. “It’s a deep history. We’re going to try to include some of that into the show this summer.
“I mean, Chicago’s a great city, it’s a great city to be in in the summertime. I know we’re excited to be able to be there and not be somewhere where we’re roasting hot. My first one was in Houston, that might have been the hottest it’s ever been for ‘Hard Knocks.’ Went to Tampa two years later. So that was pretty, pretty aggressive, too.”
“One of our position groups we’re most excited about is probably the wide receiver room. DJ Moore, his daughter we’ve seen, we think that she’s going to be a lot of fun.”
“I mean, Rome (Odunze) too, he’s the ninth pick. So it’s kinda crazy, you have two top-10 picks to highlight as rookies that are kind of unknowns. It’s a story you’re getting to tell people for the first time, at least on the NFL level. People do, they did follow his college career for the past two years and everything. But I do think that helps out when you have something like a new story that’s fresh and people in the city want to learn about and everything.”
This is easily the best wide receiver group the Bears have fielded in over a decade. D.J. Moore and Keenan Allen are Pro Bowl-caliber stars. Rome Odunze is a top-10 pick. Then you have #1 overall pick Caleb Williams at quarterback. It would be shocking if they weren’t the central focus of the season.
It isn’t a secret HBO has wanted one of the older franchises for the series because of their massive fanbases and large media markets. However, all of them have dodged the responsibility and the NFL has tried not to force them. Unfortunately, there were rumblings that the series was in trouble if they couldn’t produce good ratings this year. With their giant fanbase and prominent off-season storylines, the Bears made them an easy choice. GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus have said they’ve prepared the team for what’s coming.
While the players may not like it, the fans certainly will. They love behind-the-scenes looks into their favorite teams. The Chicago Bears have even dabbled in themselves with their 1920 Football Drive series. This will be more extensive with a sizable budget behind it. Don’t be shocked if HBO finds some even better subplots because they aren’t inclined to hide certain things like the Bears media department. Either way, next month figures to be loaded with entertainment.
